The 56-year-old will assume the job of chairman and chief executive officer January 5, the telecoms-equipment manufacturer said in a statement.

"He brings a wealth of experience and deep understanding of technology," said John Pepper, chairman of the board's CEO search committee.

The cellphone maker's board selected Zander over Motorola's president and chief operating officer, Mike Zafirovski, 50, after a wide-ranging, three-month search.

Zander, a tech industry veteran, has a reputation for marketing savvy and a track record of hitting his numbers while he was at Sun.

During his 15-year tenure at the Santa Clara, California-based tech giant, Zander established Sun as the number one company in the server market and an industry leader in systems and software.

He retired last year when it became clear that his advancement to the top spot was blocked by Sun CEO Scott McNealy and later joined Silver Lake Partners, a leading private equity fund in California.

Zander takes over at a difficult time for Motorola, a chronic underperformer that is spinning off its semiconductor operation, and has axed one-third of its work force over the past two years.

He also will need to fix chronic problems in Motorola's biggest business: cellphones. Under Chris Galvin, a grandson of the company's founder, the company lost the global lead in cell-phone sales to Finland's Nokia.

The company repeatedly has stumbled in anticipating trends and meeting deadlines to deliver new models to customers. Most recently, it ran short of components to meet the surge in holiday orders for its new camera-phones. CEO Christopher Galvin announced his resignation September 23, citing differences with the board over strategy and the pace of Motorola's turnaround.

Zander laid out few specific plans in a conference call early Tuesday.

He told analysts that he wants Motorola to play a pivotal role in the digital revolution now reshaping the communications and high-tech industries, but appealed for patience from the investor community.

"Give us a little time to go run the business," he said.

Shares in Motorola were up 21 cents at 13 dollars around 1730 GMT.

SPACE.WIRE